


Good things come to those who wait,,, right?

by fallingforbees



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Peter, BAMF Peter Parker, BAMF Tony, BAMF Tony Stark, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, I really am just playing with the time line because i want to, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Iron Man 1, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Maybe - Freeform, NOT STARKER - Freeform, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker's Field Trip to Stark Industries, Platonic Soulmates, Post-Avengers (2012), Pre-Iron Man 1, Precious Peter Parker, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, i am going with the flow, i promise this isn’t at all graphic, no one can stop me, that could all change, timeline magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:43:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27582899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingforbees/pseuds/fallingforbees
Summary: A platonic soulmate au where Tony Stark is impatient and thinks he’s unloveable. Peter Parker has been screwed over by the universe so many times it’s unbelievable. Yet the universe draws them together.ORTony stark was always raised with a non spoken knowing he would never be enough and would never have any soulmates. Sometimes patience is the key and sometimes you just need to wait till your 31 with a crippling alcohol issues. What ever floats your boat
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 33
Kudos: 465
Collections: Irondad and his Iron kids, The Best Irondad/Spiderson Fics, The Best Peter Parker Fluff Fics, The Best Peter Parker Whump Fics, The Best of the Best MCU Fics





	1. Wait, i can be loved?

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic and I started to plan and write it way too late into the night, so idk how this is gunna turn out. But here we are, here’s a lil soulmate au, I’ve read so many of these i thought it was time i finally wrote one any whoodles, pls enjoy !!
> 
> Im also so sorry this is pretty much just the set up for the next few chapters...

Tony was always told from a young age that he would always have two soulmates. In all the story’s he was read by Jarvis, to the gossip he would hear at school. A lover and best friend, both would always be there for you no matter what happened. How ever many hardships you went through, they’d always be there for you.He’d always longed for someone like that. Growing up in the direct line of the media had caused Tony to struggle making friends and even ever he did, they always had an alternative motive.   
  
He remembers always seeing his mother’s hand covered in little doodles and scribbles from one of her soulmates. Little flowers or small hearts on Valentine’s Day, it would always leave her with a soft smile and a warm aura for the rest of the day. All of it seemed just too good to be true for the young boy, having someone who would always be there for you. All the things Tony would have done for that. To have someone with to be there with him while he was under Howards scrutiny. 

While he was still young he ended up asking his mother, “Mama?, why dont I have someone writing to me?” The young boy asked with curiousity painted across his face. 

To which his mother responded with a gentle ruffle of the hair and a soft melodic voice explaining that he wouldn’t. Not yet. Not till he was a little older, “Not a lot of people yet their soulmates so young Bambino, give it some time.”

Maybe that was her way of letting him down gently he’d thought. Tony Stark was not loveable.  
  
Everyone got their soulmates at different ages and in different forms. Some people would start getting little scribbles on their hands or small words seeping into their subconscious. Others could feel their soulmates emotions or see them in their dreams. Those were the lucky ones. Those who could see either one of their soulmates in their dreams, even if when they woke up they couldn’t remember them. Some met at a young age, childhood friends turned lovers. Others in their teens or early twenties. Sometimes people didn’t realise they were soulmates, they’d have no indicator so a lot of people never found theirs, but that was okay. It’s just the way the universe worked. The universe could be a cruel being sometimes but everyone knew that it was better to not fight it. Let the chips fall as they may, its the best way to handle it.  
  
It wasn’t until he was 15 that Tony was proven wrong. Just starting as a freshman in MIT when everyone else was just starting their second year of highschool. Just perfect he had thought, another thing to be picked on for. Why did i have to come here now?

When he moved in he met his room mate, he was also a freshman but was stuck with the 15 year old to babysit. James Rhodes, that man had seriously pulled the short straw with the rooming. In the end it wasnt too bad, the two of them got along like two brothers. Tony constantly relying on Rhodey to keep him inline. It worked,, most of the time. Rhodey couldn’t curb his coffee addiction and insomnia but certain things could be done. 

“Tones, seriously you need to put the milk away. We need it to last till next week.” Rhodey said to the teen at some point between classes. He also would invite the younger boy to spend holidays with them. 

“Mama Rhodes would murder me if i left you here over Christmas so. Up up, come on were leaving in an hour.” They really had become their own little family. Every year no matter what Mama Rhodes would always send a tacky jumper if they couldn’t make it back. 

A few months later he was in bed on some random Wednesday night. He was running on a couple of hours of sleep and caffeine pumping through his system. He was working on some design ideas for his first bot. He’d been messing a round with the idea for a while and his insomnia was kicking in so he put the time to good use. That was when it had happened for the first time. He felt his hand stinging, which was defiantly not normal. Presuming it was just his hand going dead from misuse he ignored it, until the gentle burn irritated him enough to check. 

He rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the lamp, which was across the room, it was a major design floor in hindsight. Trying his hardest not to wake up Rhodey , he stumbled across the room and eventually turned the lamp on in the dorm. Which again, turning on the main lamp was not the smartest idea ever, but it was around 5am and he wasnt thinking straight. 

“Man what the fuck?” He heard Rhodey mumble whilst covering his head with a pillow. “Yes you maybe younger than me but you need sleep all the same, maybe even more. I don’t know how young brains work.” 

“Hello? Tones?” He said again when no reply came back. See this started to worry Rhodey he would often wake to Tony pacing around the room having full blown conversations with himself. He was used to the ramblings that would often come out of the boys mouth. He also always seemed to know when Rhodey was awake and passed him a freshly brewed coffee? He did not understand the boy.   
  
Tony, through all of Rhodeys mother henning, had sank down the side of the wall in awe. An elegant scrawl of pink was spreading all around his left had. It looked exactly like Marias hand from his childhood, it made the young boy smile wider.

Completely ignoring the concerns of Rhodey. The older man could be the pope and Tony wouldn’t have noticed. He realised he had a soulmate. Tony Freaking Stark has a soulmate. He finally let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. He finally replied muttering, “Rhodey can you shut up and pass me a pen.” He hadn't heard a word the older man was saying, he just wanted to reply to his soulmate. His freaking soulmate. Rhodey had pushed a pen into his hand so he could reply. The elder one had crossed the room to sit next to the younger. They had been through a lot together in 3 months and tiny appreciated the moral support. Although it wasn’t quite the same as the extreme appreciation of what ever lord is above for letting him have a romantic soulmate. It made him feel important. Special. Loved.  
  
Once Rhodey had found out what was happening he was over the moon for his best friend. There were rumours about Tony, both false and true. One that hurt the most was that Howard sent him to MIT at 15 because he wanted rid of his son with no soulmate. Howard really did that. It was the truth.

Soon after the two started to get to know each other more he knew it wasn’t true. Tony was a spoilt teenager who felt unloved by his family. He used sarcasm and humour to cover it up. Rhodey learnt never to leave any alcohol in the room because Tony would drink it to hide the pain he felt. He was so young, he held so much potential in his hands. Rhodey rose from where they were sat and ruffled Tonys hair. 

“Go get ‘em Tones.” He said with a smile before walking back to bed. Before he made his first step he felt a small hand grab his wrist. He looked down to see Tony with tears in his eyes. 

“Thank you Rhodey, for everything.” He said simply before turning his attention to his hand again. He was feverishly scribbling something down. Rhodey just smiled again, he knew the enjoyment of finding out he had a soulmate. It made you feel lightheaded in a good way. 

Good things come to those who wait, right?


	2. Oh young one..

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a lil bit on Tony’s and Peps relationship here the the rest is peter i promiseeee. I am also deFinItLy not messing with the time line a lil to fit what i want,,, nope,, not at all......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope yall enjoy this chapter,, i was so excited to write this one.. m just sayyinnnnnnnn.....

Over the years Tony started to get to know his romantic soulmate more and more. He learnt that she has strawberry blond hair, she used to get bullied for it when she was a little girl. He learnt that she wants to go to business school and make the world a better place one company at a time. He learnt she was strong minded and hard headed, she wasnt afraid to ask questions or make herself known. He knew he was lucky to have a woman like her. 

It was mind boggling, he still couldn’t shake the disbelief that he has at least one soulmate. Tony decided not to let the fact he might not have a platonic one get in the way. There was no point. He was already in debt to the universe, he didn't want to push his luck any further.  
  
Tony was pushing all of his energy, that he could, into Pepper. That’s her name. Pepper, not quite her full name just a little nickname that she gets called. That’s another thing about soulmates, (unless you could see each other in your dreams) you couldn’t share any information about yourself. It would get blurred out or the words just wouldn’t seep into the others consciousness. That’s supposedly the universes way of slowing everyone down. Making sure that everyone meets at the right place, right time. Making sure they’re both ready to be introduced to each other.   
  
It was just like any other day for anyone. The interns were busy bussing around coffee , praying that they could get a solid secure job eventually. Phones were ringing constantly. There were small experiments happening in all the labs down stairs. And there was Tony Stark, hiding away in his office scribbling away on his hand to Pepper. He was sure to get a shouting at from obie later but he didn't care. Pepper was more interesting, she was going for an assistant interview today.  
  
The night before she had been writing to Tony about what to wear, every thing from the classic interview outfit to a more out there red dress. She always went to Tony when it came to fashion, no matter who he was, she trusted him with his life and always would. They settled on something only a little more out there but still presentable and business like. Tony was trying to calm Pepper down, no matter how many interviews she had they would always freak her out, but Tony was always there to calm her down. Always.  
  
Little did they both know that would be the day they met.  
  
See even if you’re the leader of the highest grossing companies in the world at 21, you can still be heavily oblivious to everything around you. Tony had forgotten that he had interviews that day for assistants. ‘Thank lord for Jarvis’ he thought to himself when he announced the first one of the day was here. “Sir, Miss Virginia Potts is waiting for you. I advise to start them now so you have ample time later to not pay attention” Jarvis had said, clearly pumping as much sarcasm they could into the AI tone.

“Mm alright let her in Jar” he said dismissively, signing off a sorrowful reply to his soulmate as a gentle knock came upon the door. A strangely familiar strawberry blond walked through the door, smiling at her wrist. ‘Huh that’s where i had just written to Pepper’ he thought, but brushing it aside. Not thinking anything of it...  
  
It was not how he thought he would meet Pepper but was still as lovely has imagined. They gravitated together and then there was a stinging in both of their hands. They looked at each other and it clicked. He soon after gave Pepper the position and cancelled the rest of the appointments. She wasn’t too thrilled but Tony had already done it. There was no turning back now. He was feeling over the moon for once, there she was. The love of his life, this should be fun.  
  
————————  
A little time passed, and when i say a little, i mean 10 years. There were 10 years of him and Pepper growing together and learning how to balance everything. They had to learn to handle the stresses of work and their relationships. During that time there were defiantly some rough patches, that may or may not have included a very large stuffed rabbit and some heavy alcohol issues. But they made it through. They always would. It was destined between them.   
  
They had gotten married 5 years later. It was an incredibly small affair. Peppers family and Rhodey and his family were the only ones there. The next day they had a small press conference announcing their marriage. It was simple and thats all they both wanted. They just wanted to be happy really. 

Tony was still feeling a twinge of emptiness though, it happened every now and then. Whenever Pepper would be sat smiling at her other hand or whenever Rhodey would be writing to his. He knew he might not have another soulmate. That was the hard truth. But he could wait. He just needed some more patience. Or maybe some more bots would do...  
  
  
Exactly three months and 19 days after Tony’s 31st birthday he felt compelled to sleep. That doesn’t sound so strange does it? Sleep? Huh, a normal human function you may say. Well not in the Stark household you see. That was something Tony and Pepper alike got very little of, so it seemed extremely strange to everyone around that he was willingly going to bed. No little temper tantrum along the way. Not one at all. None the less, he went to bed with sleep in his minds eye, even Tony himself wondered what made him so tired. Maybe Jarvis replaces his normal coffee with decaf again. 

Either way, he didnt fight it when sleep pulled him under. Accepting the rest with open arms. Yet, it felt like he was still awake... in this dream state it all felt so real. Every little sound, every person moving. Everyone had a face? Since when had dream people had faces. He was so sure they didnt. He was in a hospital. A bustling of a hospital, people running around, seemingly unaware of Tony.  
  
There was a faint cry pulling tony towards the maternity wing. Of all places why the maternity wing, he’s never had any connection to the wing at all. Maybe Pepper donated to one in his name, other than that little connection. But there was that faint cry again, it made his chest ache. Made him want to protect the child. A paternal instinct had kicked in. He didnt know where was this all coming from. Still he followed his siren call down the corridors of the wings. Navigating them like he knew them off the back of his hands.  
  
Stopping outside of room 201, he peered inside. There he was, a little baby boy lying in a crib crying his tiny eyes out. Unaware of his actions, Tony gently walked into the room and picked the small child up. Something from his childhood clicked and he started to shush him and coddle the small child. He completely surprised himself by doing this but it was an instant reaction, he doubted anything would stop this. It was completely natural. Looking down to the baby’s crib he read the name, ‘Peter. B. Parker, D.O.B. 10.08.01’. Still rocking the small child in his arms he was whispering, “Peter Parker eh? Are you my platonic soulmate little guy” this was all said with awe in his tone, he could feel it in his gut that this little boy was his platonic soulmate. He wasn’t at all mad. He wasn’t mad that the universe made him wait all this time, he was almost glad.  
  
In the corner of the room there was a green worn down chair, Tony started to make his way across the room towards the chair and sat down, trying his hardest not to move the small child too harshly. He was so fragile, so small, so.. so.. innocent. As he was sitting down, Peter hooked his tiny hand around Tony’s thumb -it barely made it around half of the elder mans thumb- and was attempting to pull it towards his chest. “Utterly adorable” he thought, and the whole thing started to bring tears to his eyes. The truth was, Tony hadn’t cried in years, and the small child he was ho;lid has had done it for him.   
  
He sat there for a while, rocking the small child back and forth, until the small one was back into his deep sleep. Tony had lots of time to think about everything. If this was how he and Peter would communicate, did that mean he wouldn’t ever remember these dreams? Oh god, how he hoped this wasn’t true. Plenty of time has passed, a panic attack building but being held back by the small child. 

“What a wonder he is” he muttered to himself. Slowly pure exhaustion pulling his eyes closed. Drawing an end to the beginning. Yet, when he opened them again he was awake in bed. Not remembering a single thing. Tears were rolling down his face, it was the best sleep he had had in years, but why was he crying? He just wasn’t sure what had happened day all but what he did know was that he felt whole. For the first time in his entire life he felt whole.  
  
Then again, he would also give all he had for sleep to drag him back. Draw him back to what ever he had just experienced. The fullness in his chest slowly fading and the anxiety and pressure slowly filtered in its place.  
  
See it wouldn’t take Tony long to realise he had finally met his platonic soulmate. The real question is if he was ready to wait for when the universe had designated them to meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehhe i really hope u are enjoying this so far!! Shbdklfhjbrilbfh now that I’m actually posting I have actual motivation to finish this story


	3. Mr sun,what happened to my lollipops?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this ones a tad shorter i know and I’m sorry :( i just wanted to post something though. Anyways here’s some from peters POV and the parkers in general

It had taken Tony 3 days to figure out that he had found his other soulmate. Frankly, he was mad that it had taken him three days. Seriously. It had taken two mornings with tears rolling down his face and Pepper having him the idea of why he was actually sleeping for once. And it wasn’t Tony who had figured it out it had been Pepper, but better to let him have a little bit of dignity right?  
  
Tony was now constantly looking forward to going to sleep now, which was a surprise for everyone. Even himself, he constantly envied his dream self for being able to know his soulmate, but that was an issue to be resolved with his therapist. 

It shocked him how quickly his body adapted to sleeping, not needing as much coffee as he had previously, although he still drank a lot of it. He was looking less pale, looking less like he’s carrying both his and Peppers wardrobes around under his eyes. His soulmate was helping him so much without even knowing him.  
  
———  
  
Peter Parker had been 2 weeks early, that wasn’t anything bad at all, he was just a little on the smaller side which everyone said was okay. He also slept a lot. The doctors weren’t used to seeing newborns sleep through the night, of course he could be woken but he would always cry till he could go back to sleep, no one could figure out why. Not that the Parker’s were complaining it was just... mildly concerning to handle. So many doctors and nurses were in and out to make sure he was okay, overtime people started to get even more concerned. It was until one day they did a little brain scan whilst he was sleeping. His serotonin and melatonin levels were higher than usual.  
  
It had become a little bit of an anomaly, no one could understand it. Literally nobody, considering it wasn't hurting peter at all they let it go. Having to make extra appointments for Peter when he was released to make sure everything would still be okay. Little did they all know Peter was just spending his time in the safety of his soulmate, Tony telling him about his day and about his bots. There was so much love that had already been formed between them.  
  
As Peter grew older he still loved bedtime, it allowed him to feel safe and feel warm. Knowing that his dreams would protect him. He’s known that for as long as he could remember. His parents were always surprised when their little Peter didnt refuse bedtime at all. Never woke up from horrifying nightmares, but like his counterpart he would wake up crying. At least 4 times a week. This is what finally made Mary and Richard realise their son had already met one of his soulmates, they were both equally concerned and over the moon. On one hand Peter would get to grow up to have someone always there for him, but on the other hand... how old was this soulmate? Guessing they’ve been within since birth.. he could be any age older than him.  
  
Peter was like almost every other small child out there, pretty much oblivious to all the bad in the world. He just looked forward to sleepy times. He would always see Tony there, imagine that THE Tony Stark as your platonic soulmate!! Freaking awesome. 

“I saw you on the tv today!” Peter said excitedly one night, he came running up to Tony and the older man swung him around. 

“Oh did you now?” 

“Mmhmm, it was something about your company being the heights grossest in the world!” He said triumphantly. 

“Grossing bambino, not grossest” Tony replied with a chuckle. 

They always did something different each night, sometimes they would just talk and talk, Peter quite liked those nights, it would be just him and Tony in what ever place they had imagined(quite literally anywhere. There’s another thing about dreams, they’re all connected to your imagination. Luckily both of them had very vivid ones). Either walking hand in hand ( Peter didn't quite grasp the concept that you couldn’t get lost in dreams, so he insisted that Tony held his hand), or finding a place to just sit together. Those nights always lead to Peter being conked out on Tony’s chest, his full body pulling a contortionist act to fit. Other nights Tony would imagine a lab for Peter to mess about in, Peter was ecstatic. He loved science and engineering after all.  
  
When Peter was 5 he realised life wasn't always sunshine and lollipops like he had once imagined. Everything in his dreams was going so good, Tony was always there for him even if he forgot when he woke up. There was always a slip second when he woke up wondering why he was dreaming about a man with a goatee. He had a best friend, Ned. He liked all the same thing Peter did, they met in the sandbox at recess. They were both alone but Peter had worn his star wars top to school that morning. Everything there just went up hill. Everything with his parents was so cool, they loved him so much, he could sense it coming of them with every hug. He was also very close to his Uncle Ben and Aunt May, they were always there when they could be. Peter loved them so freaking much. I suppose it was a good thing that Peter was close to Ben and May considering everything that happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ehh how are yall feelin about this fic,, ngl it was only going to be 3 chapters but i got carried away a tad...


	4. i need you, but can you even be there for me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to post this. this is purely a filler.. i just felt bad not including this ya know

What happens next you would never wish on anyone. No matter how much pain they were to cause you. 

Peter was sating with Ben and May for a while. Mary and Richard had a massive meeting abroad with their company, OSCORP. They had both only recently started working there so they had to go, neither one could stay behind. OSCORP had too show the competition that they were capable and willing to do things a more expensive and flashy way. 

That’s how Mary ands Richard Parker both ended up in an aeroplane on their way to Europe with the rest of the head scientists. They had managed to allow for Peter to come along with them, they didnt want to burden May and Ben with taking care of him whilst they were gone. On the morning of the trip Peter had woken up feeling utterly awful, he had a fever and a cough. His hay-fever was acting up. They were going to stay behind but May and Ben had agreed to take care of him. They all wished that Mary and Richard had stayed behind. 

———  
It was a normal night for the family, the small boy had been with his aunt and uncle for 2 nights now and this was the night before his parents would be back. He loved May and Ben, but he couldn’t wait too see his Parents either. He was giddy with excitement, and over the moon with joy. He would get to hug his mum and dad again. For someone older 4 days is nothing but for a little 5 year old it meant the whole world to him. 

Peter ended up getting ready for bed earlier than usual. Of course both Ben and May knew knew about his soulmate and how he loved bedtime but even this was a little strange to see.

they let the kid be though, knowing it would probably be for the best. Peter was a well behaved child, he was polite and courteous. Always being grateful for what he had but sometimes he could throw the nastiest of tantrums. We was 5, and the logic of 5 year olds was slightly wack so they let him be. They were both expecting Peter asleep by his normal bed time and he was completely conked out. Both adults looked in awe at the boy, 

“How the hell does he do that?” May asked as they were leaving the spare room, it had pretty much become Peters at this rate. 

“If i knew I’d be following suit.” Ben followed with a chuckle. Little did they know but the small child would become a permanent fixture in their home. They’d never complain, he’s their family. 

Peter was having a completely normal time with Tony, tonight they were going on a walk. Well, Tony was walking and Peter was sat upon his shoulders almost as a look out. He longed to do this with Peter outside of the dream scape, but he would wait. He always would. 

Peter was talking as much as normal and was excited recounting his day, “tony tony, it was so cool, un’le Ben and aunt May took me to the pier! I only ever go when them ‘cus mum and dad are too busy but it’s okay, I know they do important stuff for OSCORP”

he was talking a mile a minute, or at least as fast as that could be for such a small child when Tony in a confused tone asked, “underoos,” the little nickname had slipped out “ What do you mean OSCORP? I thought your parents worked for some medical gig?”

The last Tony was aware that’s what Peters parents were up to, but that was a while ago and he knew how smart they were so he wasn’t surprised if they had been snatched up. 

“They got a new job with them a couple of months ago. Mum said the pay was better and to not tell dad that she said that” peter said nonchalantly whilst playing with tony’s hair from his perch on his shoulders

Tony gave out a small chuckle and let it go, he knew the kid was just a kid and he wouldn’t purposely try and bog himself down with his parents happenings. 

they had already finished their little walk and were sat by a tree, peter was clearly half asleep but he piped up and said “Tony... something bads g’nna happen, c’n feel it” he was mumbling. 

Tony understood fully, he didn’t remember much of being 5 but he did know how daunting things could be, “I know buddy, but if things do go to shhh- crap.. i’ll always be here when you go to sleep, right here. I’ll never leave you, i promise, we can work on what ever you want or nothing at all. Talk for the whole night or just sit and hug, what ever it is Pete, it’ll all be okay. I’ll be here”

Tony knew this only relied on them both sleeping, who knew what could happen.  
————  
It was the night after the accident. Peter had spent the day crying into Ben, just curled there on his lap. He knew his parents weren’t going to come back, he just knew it, for a little 5 year old he knew far too much. He knew that there were never going to come back. he knew that he would be with May and Ben now. He knew everything would change. He was smart and maybe too much for his sake, way too much for his sake. Still, he, May and Ben stayed on the couch all day with blankets, grief is a strange one. It’s there, fighting pushing, punching, constantly. Never changing. Never ending, never one to give up. It was just a gnawing sensation inside of him and the rest of his family. What was left of it as least. He just felt empty. He wished he could just meet his soulmate now. He wanted his soulmate so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay well then. maybe i will not wait almost a week before posting again. jandjsndh thank u all !!


	5. I’ll be there for you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did i say posting more often? oops :/ sorry i’ve had a busy week

Tony wanted to meet his soulmate so bad. He had been waiting for Peter the night of the accident. He’d seen it on the news, he didnt know why but it made his anxiety flare up. He was pacing around it was getting late. 

“Maybe he had forgotten about him? No no that’s not even possible.” He mumbled to himself. Sometimes Tony loved the rational side of his brain, it was rather helpful in situations like this.

He had been going to therapy for a while now, thanks to Pepper pushing for it saying that he could use some help. He also hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol in 5 years, not since Peter was born. He didn’t know what happened but suddenly he woke up and decided he didn’t need to drink anymore. Pepper had been confused but utterly supportive, she was over the moon with the revelation and was starting to like Tonys soulmate too. Maybe for a few selfish reasons but she did see how well Tony was and she was just glad that he would stop ruining himself. 

It took longer than normal but Peter did arrive. He didnt it made Tony overjoyed at first but then his heart clenched at the sight before him. Peter was stood with tear tracks down his face ans red eyes. Without saying a single word pulled him into his arms and say down so Peters head was against his sternum. His heart couldn’t deal with the amount of sorrow coming out of the boy. It made his heart shatter into thousands of pieces. not knowing what had happened makes it even worse. He suspected his parents were on the plane that had crashed, he couldn’t even go ask Ben or May. 

So he just sat with Peter in his arms as he sobbed, comforting in any way could. Little words of encouragement here and there. What ever he thought would help the boy calm down. He wanted to make Peter okay.

It had taken an hour or two before Peter raised his head from where it was resting on Tony’s chest and he whispered,“ Hi there” still trying to crack a small smile. 

For such a small child he was way to smart for his years, his glasses were all askew so Tony fixed them then held Peters face in his hands. Placing a large kiss on his forehead he tentatively asked what had happened. this set peter off again but he managed to sputter out the words he hadn’t ever wanted to say, “ t-th-here g-go-one” he managed before the tears took on in full force again. His parents were in the crash. Shit. 

This time Tony took of Peters glasses so he could guide Peter into a more comfortable position. even a few tears sprouted in Tony’s eyes at the sight. Those two words shattered his sons, no. Not his sons, his soulmates heart. His world. 

It had been a long night for the both of them but they managed. Together they survived. Peter was just thankful to have Tony there with him. Curled into a small ball in the elder mans lap feeling warm and protected. He loved it. He just wished it was like this always, at this point his tears had died down but this thought set off a whole new wave of them. This time Tony could do something. 

“Kiddo, listen to me okay? Can you do that? “ he said, he felt Peters head bobbing up and down, “Petey-pie. You don’t know how much i wish i knew you outside of this dream realm. You’re the sweetest, kindest, little boy I’ve ever met. It would be an utter privilege to introduce you to Pep and Rhodey. They would adore you too, but the universe has other plans. It’ll let us meet when the times right for both of us. It’ll be okay, you never know, we might meet next week!!” he said with a little bit of false hope. he knew in his heart they wouldn’t meet for a long while yet, but he wanted peter to have some hope in this world. He carried on, “ No matter when we meet bambino, and we will okay? Everything will be okay. You will be okay.” he said the last part with absolute certainty. he would always be there for Peter, no matter what happened, they would always be there for each other.  
———————————  
So a few months before Peters 7th birthday Tony had another missile launch planned. They were nothing spectacular. He’d fly out, do the presentation, spend some extra time with Rhodey, then come back. It was simple. He had done it so many times before. Plus now for the past 6 and a half years he's had Peter, even if he didn’t know it.

He was with Peter through the whole grieving process. He’d wished someone was there for him when his parents died, so he did what he could for the boy. He’d like to think it helped but he wasn’t sure at all really. He made his point to peter that he wasn’t going anywhere. Never.

They spent pretty much each night together, or if Tony knew he would be busy during the following week he’d always let Peter know ahead of time, just incase he ended up working into the night. Always. He realised it was the little things like that, that always made Peter happy. The small bouts of tickling at random points, gentle kisses on the crown of his head, always telling him if something were going to happen. It was how they built up more and more trust with each other.

Peter would always try and be open with Tony, after his parents died it got tough and he wasn’t sure how he could share things. The people he loved always got taken away. It took sometime but he opened up to Tony again, they started to build trust on that side again. Peter had changed though. He was so mature for a young child, a mix of the intelligence and trauma from losing his parents really pulled a number on him. He still had his nerdy moments with ned over star wars. That would never change ,yet somehow, Peter knew it wouldn’t all be sunshine and lollipops from now on. Somehow Tony’s most recent trip was a testament to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyways, i have a small plan for how this will go but i’m always open to suggestions so please leave some comments !!


	6. you’re my flashlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and they post !! this chapter covers most of the events of ironman one, there are no graphic descriptions of anything as a lil fyi for ya :)

Tony had warned Peter of his most recent trip. Of course he did, it was what they’d done for the past couple of years. They both understood it and it meant neither would wake with that heavy feeling in their hearts or that gnawing anxiety in their chests. When ever Tony came back from a trip they’d both end up over sleeping, that meant Tony would always come back from his trips on the weekend so it was not to disturb the young boys school pattern. That was Peppers decision actually. She had said something about ‘no weekend obligations’. 

Tony’s most recent trip was to Afghanistan with the US army to launch his newest missile, ‘The Jerhico’. It was the the most advanced one that had ever been made. He was proud? of it. Well.. not really. 

He didn’t want to be in the weapons business anymore. He’d seen enough destruction come from his and Howards hands. It’s a soul sucking business ran by a bunch of leeches, and yet, every few months tony would feed said leeches with a few new designs so they would get of his back. They were already riding him for being in a committed relationship with his assistant, even if she is his soulmate. They didn’t care. So he had to start pulling his weight more. being more “responsible” as Obadiah had once stated.

He went to more meetings, more “company shindigs” was just more involved all together. He was still sober though, had been for 7 years. Yes there were rough patches, Obadiah being a large one. He would constantly push tony to take a drink, every meeting, every “shindig”, every opportunity to wreck the mans sobriety. In the beginning it was a struggle to resist but he pulled it off, that noise in the back of his head telling him no. Little did he know it was his love for his soulmate that was pushing for this.

The night before the launch he knew this would be one of the last solid nights of sleep he’d get in the next two to three days. So he spent the whole time sat with Peter. At this point they had built up enough trust after his parents death that they no longer felt uncomfortable. 

After Mary and Richards death, the trust that they had had before had shattered along with the boy. Peter didn’t know if he could ever trust Tony not to leave. Not to just stop turning up one night and never return. He slowly built that trust back up with the boy, it had been hard but he’d done it. He was proud of peter. So freaking proud. He’d done so much better than a grown man did. 

So he sat there with the young boy talking about everything and anything, from why the grass was green to what Tony was doing in the lab recently. Tony wasn’t surprised at all when he understood it all. When Peter was starting to fall asleep, it was the early morning so he wasn’t surprised, he kissed his forehead and made sure he was comfortable before falling asleep himself. It was the last time he was with Peter before it all went to shit.  
  
Lights

Whiskey?

Cameras 

Army

Fun car

Did he drink? He couldn’t have. No no whiskey. It was coke. They knew to accommodate.

Stark Industries

His bullet proof vest wasn’t enough. It all cut through. He- he was bleeding out and never met his soulmate. He had never met his soulmate.

That’s when it went black again.

The next time Tony awoke he didn’t even have a dream with Peter, it was black. Solid darkness. Nothing. Empty. Just like outer space. He felt something heavy on his chest, weighing him down, almost like he was about to have an anxiety attack, he looked down and man was he wrong.

There underneath the bandages and connected him to the car battery beside him. It looked like he was in for another surprise of his life. With his fingers quivering he tore the bandages apart, it took a lot of strength. It was so tiring but the adrenaline and fear of what his captors had done to him had kicked in. He looked at the thing in his chest and all out sobbed. He hadn’t cried like this in a long time and all of a sudden he couldn’t control himself. His thoughts became too much too fast and he ended up blacking out with tears still streaming down his face.

When he awoke he woke up in the one place he knew he would have to come at some point but he didn’t want to. Not yet. But then he heard a voice.

“T-they said you w-were d-d-d-dead on the tv”

He turned to see Peter curled into a ball rocking himself whilst sobbing. It shattered Tony’s heart. Smashed what was left of it to smithereens. He walked over the young boy and wrapped his arms around him. “Well you see, i am right here. Like i said. I’m not going anywhere bambino.” Tony managed to say while hardly masking the fear in his voice. 

Peter had pressed his face to Tony’s neck and was sobbing still, he didn’t mind. He wanted to be with the kiddo. “I knew you weren’t dead, i felt it in my heart” Peter whispered.

The poor kid. He was wrecked. He was curled in Tony’s lap and was slowly calming down. He hadn’t said anything about the reactor where his head would normally sit. Tony wasn’t sure if he wanted Peter to say anything either but they’d cross that bridge when the time came.

That bridge came sooner than he wished. It was about a week into his capture and Peter had brought it up. Tony had found out that they had planted it in his chest to save him, he was still working through that. It would take a while but he’d probably get there.

“They put it there to save me kid.”

“Why did you need saving?” He asked gently. 

Tony ran his fingers through Peters hair as he explained a kid friendly version of the story, “See, as we were driving back, we got attacked. Some shrapnel got through my bullet proof vest, its like a magnet. It keeps the shrapnel from getting to my heart.” He finished with a little chuckle. “It’s all something you shouldn’t be worrying about.” He said with a book on the boys nose. 

Peter was sat on his lap tracing the reactors outer edge with his finger. Around and around and around, all tony could think of is that nursery rhyme. ‘Around, around the garden like a teddy bear, atishoo atishoo they all fall down.” God this is what having kids is like then- wait. Having a kid? no? Peter was practically his child anyways. He loved the boy. He was grounded by Peter leaning up and kissing Tonys cheek. It warmed his heart. 

Peter was trying to decipher everything that was happening but with Tony’s help they both got through it. Peter was Tony’s light at the end of the tunnel and Tony was Peters rock. They kept each other grounded when they didn’t even know each other.  
It took 3 months, a new arc reactor, the first mark of the Ironman suit and Rhodey working his ass off for Tony to be found. He didn’t know how he did it, but he made it through that living hell. He and Rhodey were getting of the plane back in US soil and when Tony saw Pepper his heart broke all over again. 

“Tears for your long lost boss?” 

“No.. tears of joy. I hate job hunting.” Pepper managed to say before sobbing into Tonys chest. 

All he knew is that when he came back, he’d shut down the weapons unit and turn it all around like he’d wanted to do for years. He found out, with Peppers help, that it was Obadiah who had sent out for Tonys kidnapping and murder. He was arrested and removed from the company, leaving Tony with his shares in the company. 

One step in the right direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all so much for reading !! so the next chapter is gunna skip to when peters around 13/ when ben dies so i want yall to be warned !!


	7. One little bite wont hurt right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know i said this one would be about ben but i don’t plan these things at all and i think the next one will be so :/ 
> 
> Tw: some swearing a little later/ at the end 
> 
> Anyways i hope you all enjoy this chapter

The Parker family had always been close knit. That’s one of the main reasons why Mary and Richard could always rely on May and Ben to take care of Peter when they weren’t there. It was something everyone was immensely grateful for, no one would change it for the world. Not with how the world decided to treat the little gang.

At the same time over the years that they had guardianship over Peter, he had become practically a son to them. Ben would always make sure he had time for Peter. May would always make sure to hug and kiss him goodbye, “You’re never too old for any of that young man!” she has hollered after him one day after he had tried to avoid the morning ritual.

That morning had been the day of his OSCORP field trip with his science class. It was a week before his 13th birthday and he was over the moon. They had some of the most recent bioengineering advancements and we’re second in the field ( only behind SI now). 

Stark Industries had shut down all weapons manufacturing after Mr Starks kidnapping and had turned it all around. They made prosthetics and tech instead, with Mr Starks brain and Mrs Starks new ideas for the company after she became CEO, they were at the top of the game. He had also calmed down in the media too, never out at any of the parties he used to have. There were rumours that he got seriously injured in Afghanistan but no one was really sure what to believe and no one had made any official statement. The only one that came out was the one that he had come home safe. Every few months, maybe 3 times a year, a small distrusted paper would bring it up and everyone just brushes it off after a while. Maybe the larger ones got payed off...

Peter had been yanked out of his brain vomit by Ned. “Dude, Peter, hellooooooo?” Ned was waving his hand in front of peters face. huh? i didn’t realise i wasn’t paying attention for that long, was all Peter could think before Ned started to talk again. 

“can you come over this weekend? that new lego Death Star we ordered finally came through!” they continued to make plan until they had to get off the bus and the pure excitement of the the day took over.   
  
“.. everything went awesome guys. Thank you for letting me go on that trip! I love you both” Peter finished as he walked down towards his room. It has been one of the best days he’s had. He and Ned spent the whole time fangirling over every little thing that they saw. from the lobby, to the security badges they got, to the lift, and the best part of all, the bioengineering labs. The schools were rarely permitted to go into them because they often held new projects and off the books new prototyped projects too. They had been extremely lucky, Midtown was a stellar school so the tour guides opened it up to them. It had nothing at all to do with Peters parents previous employment to OSCORP, nothing at all... everything was similar to what’s seen in the films, little viles of chemicals everywhere and scientists with lab coats and goggles. Pretty much a massive film. they were in awe of it all. Their “little nerd brains pretty much exploding out of their heads” as Aunt May put it.

He chose to remove the detail that whilst in the lab he went to look at some of the spiders, and one left the cage it was in and had bitten him it was nothing. right?

Wrong. It was everything. That one spider bite pretty much changed Peters life after that. He was horribly sick for around 2 days then made a miraculous recovery. That doesn’t just happen does it? Peter was with Tony pretty much that whole time. 

He was sleeping a lot. His time with tony consisted of a lot of cuddles. 

“You’re never too old to cuddle with me bambino, you’re like my child, it’s just what fathers do. ” he had said matter of factly when Peter was trying to squirm out of his grasp. “you’re too weak right now anyways Pete, all this” Tony waved around his body “isn’t going to get better if you don’t hold ya horses for a while.” 

Peter was stuck on what Tony had said before, “it’s just what fathers do.” They did do a lot of father/ son things together, but then again he had uncle Ben for that. Is he a bad person for wanting to have another farther figure? Would he be disrespecting Ben? His mind was spinning in loops, and because what ever that spider bite did clearly wasn’t going to be letting up anytime soon, it drained his energy. He fell into a black out sleep. Little did he know that he has muttered the last part “that stupid spider bite” to Tony, this has caught his attention. 

He knew peter was hiding something since that OSCORP trip, why OSCORP of all places? And he got bitten by a spider? Tony was fully aware of all the bio testing they did off the books there. Peter got bitten by one? What the fu-

Tony awoke with a start and his heart beating like a madman. “what the fuck” he muttered under his breath. 

He checked to his left, Pep was still asleep and looking as peaceful as ever. He checked his clock and geez it was 4 am. How long has he actually been sleeping for? And why in gods name was he so worried? He hadn’t t felt like this in a while not since- oh. His soulmate was hurt. Not again, no no no. The last time he felt like this it was 2006, he guessed someone his soulmate was extremely close to had died. He got out of bed as gently as he could as to not disturb Pepper. Deciding to just start his day now, what was the point in even going to sleep right now. He turned on the coffee maker and- why doesn’t he have an automated coffee maker? He should add that to the list of things to do. He needed to upgrade Friday too, maybe that could be today’s job.

Friday was Jarvis’ replacement after Ultron. He didnt want to think about that anymore but Tony’s mind started to spiral, twist and turn as he stared out of the window of stark tower. They ended up rebuilding after what happened with Loki. Something that many would never understand is why Stark Tower was involved in the whole Avengers battle.

Small things left out of the media, mainly the fact that Tony Stark was in-fact Ironman and he had been ever since he came back from Afghanistan. He was technically an Avenger even though he basically just supplied tech, and to the public was a liaison between them and SHEILD. He also homed them in Stark Tower in the floors below the lab. It was a... tough decision to make but it had to be done he supposed. They had become part of his family too, they’d all bonded one way or another. Movie nights, training. Pretty much anything. Along with that, Pepper had forgiven Nat with everything that happened with SI and they were really close friends. 

Whatever it takes to keep the world a little bit safer. Tony really didn’t know how much had passed but the sun had risen and Pepper had come to join him on on the sofa. They sat together for who knew how long.  
Little did Tony know that across the city was a now, fully healthy? Buff? Non asthmatic? No longer blind? Peter Parker. Who now at the age of 14, huh it was August already, was starting to figure out what the hell had just happened to him. And why he could now lift his bed frame like it was nothing and why he stuck to everythi- for fucks sakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there, i just wanted to thank you all for reading this so far. It’s my first fic I’ve ever actually carried on (the drafts on my phone are really loving the use). Anyways, I always love when yall comment so feel free !! 
> 
> Also this has no posting schedule, i will always post at least once a week mainly mon-wed. Okay that’s all from me !! Have a lovely week :D


	8. Does this mean you can take the Lego’s apart now?

“Peter, what the hell happened to you?” Ned had frantically whispered to him in the hall 

“Beats me, seriously, I woke up feeling perfect, plus. No glasses” Peter had said back to him. He loved his best friend but knew how bad he was at keeping secrets. It had been just over a month since the two boys had seen each other. During that month Peter he gained his powers and yet at the same time felt the weakest he’s ever possibly felt. Ben had died in a shoot out. Peter was there to witness it. 

< “Ben,Ben,Ben!” Peter had come bounding to the door, it was meant to be his last day off school, May and Ben alike finally thought it was time to send him back. 

“Ahhh there he is!” Was all that was said before both the boys left the apartment, they needed to get grocery’s before May got home. It was their turn to took. Thank lord. With Mays cooking you always have to keep the fire extinguisher ready. 

They were both walking down the street. Ben still in his uniform, they both knew he wouldn’t take it off till they were about to start cooking. As they were walking they both were chatting away as normal. Ben was always there for Peter, no matter what. Almost as the father figure he never could quite have. 

They both made it to Delmar's unscathed and proceeded to do they grocery shopping for the week. Making sure to pick up a little extra. It was pay day after all. They were regulars in Delmas’s, most people who lived around Queens went there, it was homely. Everyone knew everyone, it was safe. Their little haven. Anytime someone new moved in, Mr Delmar would always be the first to introduce himself to them, let them know where everything was and where to go if you needed help. Safety in numbers was pretty much the rule. 

They were just leaving when Bens phone started to ring. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence but he hoped it wouldn’t happen tonight. He wanted to spend time with his nephew. Mr Delmar told him to take it and that’s he and Peter would finish packing up the grocery’s. From the glances Ben was throwing at Peter and what he could hear. It wasn't sounding good at all. There was an armed shooter running through Queens of all places. They wanted Ben to be out there looking for him and ready to take him down of it came to it. He pocketed his phone and the two boys started their walk back towards the apartment. Taking the Main Street, it seemed the safest really. That was when it happened. 

Peter felt a stabbing pain at the base of his skull. It was pretty much screaming danger at him. Telling him to move. Telling him to run. That was when he heard them. 

Bang.   
Bang.   
Bang. 

Three of the loudest sounds Peter had ever heard. Another Parker family member gone.>

“-eter? Earth to Peter?” 

“Hey loser. Get your head in it okay.” MJ had just stated. The worry in her face and tone completely hidden. 

That caused Peter to snap out of it. It was now decathlon practice? How the hell did he get through a whole school day in a flash?

“So, I’ve been trying to get your attention for the past 5 minutes and all it takes is MJ to get your attention?” Ned said with fake annoyance in his voice. He knew Peter liked MJ, and it didn’t surprise him. Just was concerning to him. 

“Yeah well... she’s the captain?” Peter tried 

“It’s okay ya know, I don’t mind. I’m just worried man.” Ned said gently before prodding Peters side. It caused them both to laugh, all seriousness of the conversation. Peter loved Ned for knowing exactly what to do in those situations. He figures its the fact that the two have known each other for too long. The conversation this morning was brought back to mind. Ned had noticed the fact he was now, to put it correctly, jacked. He didn’t think anyone else had actually noticed. He didn’t realise that MJ had noticed too. The fact is those two were the only two who really had. Peter and Ned weren’t exactly friends with MJ but slowly but surely MJ was drifting towards them. Neither were complaining, she was nice and loved to draw people in crisis. The majority of her sketchbook was pretty much dedicated to Peter. 

“You’re in constant distress loser, that’s it.” Was all that was said before walking away after Ned asked why she was drawing Peter again. It was the second time this week? 

Clearly someone else had noticed too.. “Penis. Oi, what happened to those glasses of yours? Finally decided to get rid of them? Or could you not afford your new prescription?” Flash had yelled down the hall at him. Peter just walked away, he didn't want to deal with Flash today. Decathlon had finished and all he wanted to do was go home, patrol then crash in his bed and sleep. Then rinse repeat the next day. 

“I was talking to you Parker” was all Peter heard before he felt his spidey senses go off. He knew to ignore it. Just carry on. He felt someone push his back as he was walking down the stairs to leave the school. He fell flat on his face. Great. “Nice fall Penis.” Flash snarled at him before leaving. He pushed himself up and got his stuff together, he felt his arm twang. Inspecting it he realised it was only a bruise. That shouldn’t take too long to heal. With the month he’d had his powers he’d managed to somewhat test them out. He was.. sticky, he could stick to walls and climb around, he had a much, much faster metabolism. He really pulled the short end of the stick there with that. With Bens pay check they had managed to get by. Now without it.. money was tight, Peter knew that and after realising he had a faster metabolism he tried to ration what he ate. He also had super hearing, it wasnt the nicest thing to realise. He could hear the whole building all the time. The neighbours down the hall really need to calm down more often. Plus he was really freaking strong, out on patrol a few nights ago he managed to stop a bus coming at him at full speed. It was a pleasant surprise when he wasn’t squashed like a bug... ehh arachnid? And top it all off he had super healing, its a real life saver when he gets hurt on patrol and almost all traced of it are gone by the time he gets home. 

That night he and Tony had, what had become, a normal night for them. Tony would imagine his personal lab and the two of them would metaphorically tinker and create new ideas. Somehow on those really productive nights Tony would always wake up with some new idea or the solution to the formula that he couldn’t solve for the life of him. That specific night Tony had some news for the boy. 

“Peter. Peter?” Tony was saying his name but it was pretty much useless the boy was knee deep into something. So he just tried again, “Pete? Peter Parker? Peter.. candy pants?” That last one caused the boy to turn around sniggering. 

“I regret asking you to watch that show with me. I didn't think that ‘Over The Garden Wall’ of all things would slip into your consciousness. I also didn't think that Rhodey would walk in on you watching it for the, what was it? 5th time?” Peter was full on laughing at this rate. Tony was trying to keep a straight face, he really was but thinking back at it it’s really was rather funny. Rhodey had walked out from the elevator and expected Tony to have at least looked at him. Instead he was sat under a weighted blanket, happy as larry watching a cartoon mumbling something about ‘rock facts’ and ‘candy pants’. It isn’t the weirdest thing Rhodey has caught him doing but it was.. something. 

“I’m assuming you called me candy pants for a reason?” Peter asked trying his hardest to fake some annoyance but Tony knew how to read Peter like an open book. Going to ruffle the kids hair he replied with a smile. He’d been rather excited for this for a while. 

“I know how your decathlon class hasn’t had a field trip yet this year...” he started ominously. He saw Peter nod in agreement from where he was sat next to him. “You know that SI holds high school tours around the building right?” He watched Peter nod again, with confusion still painted all over his features. “I don’t want to get your hopes up, but, I overheard Pepper talking on the phone and Midtown is up there for the tour.” Tony finished with a wave of his arms. Peter was just sat staring at him like he had been hit with a train. 

“We’ve been.. what?” He said in disbelief. He couldn’t actually believe that he might be going to Stark Industries. He’d always dreamed of going there. It was THE company to try and work for. “Oh my god. No way” he just muttered. 

“Kid the only reason I’m telling you is because a) you will not remember in the morning and b) because i think its pretty cool really.” He finished with a giddy little smile anyways. The trip wouldn’t actually be for another two weeks, there were sets of NDAs to sign, permission slips to be collected and sent to SI. It was a whole process. 

They both then went to the sofa that was in their dream lab, they ended up cuddling there. That had been a little habit since well, a longtime. They both knew anything could happen and this way, they could at least pretend to be safe for a while. 

Neither of them had said it but they were both hoping that they would finally be able to meet? Who knows. Maybe the universe, for once. Is in their favour. 

—————  
That day, Peters decathlon class would be getting a surprise. They had been chosen for a trip to SI as their field trip for the year. They all got packets of information that needed to be signed and given in by the end of the week, meaning everything could be processed and ready for their trip the following friday. It was a quick turn around, Mr Harrington had said, but it was completely worth it. With this news, Flash seemed to leave him alone for the rest of the day. 

When Peter heard the news he felt, strangely optimistic. He didn’t know why but there was something in the corner of his mind that was just over the moon at this news. 

The day was looking up, it was a good Tuesday. Flash hadn’t gone near him since the news of the trip to SI, that was a surprise to both MJ and Ned. Peter had completely aced the chemistry test that he did...not study for. On a day like this, parker luck had to strike didn't it? And it struck bad. 

Peter and Ned had agreed to head to the latter boys house to study and build Lego’s after school. It was around the same time Peter would be going on his patrols. So he thought he should pack his handmade suit in his bag so he could go once he left the Leeds. That was his first error. The second one was letting Ned go through his bag to grab some books. Which inevitably lead to Ned finding the suit. He had seen videos of Spider-Man online. He just didnt think it was his best friend. 

Let’s just say they had a lovely conversation. And lets also just say it was a good on no one else was home. 

Things started to make sense to Ned more, why Peter was hardly around after school. How he was suddenly looking jacked at 14. Most importantly why Peter sometimes had still healing bruises on his arms that looked too nasty to be from banging his arm on the wall or the table. He was ecstatic. His best friend was a superhero. He was sworn to secrecy because ‘no one could know. Not at all. You know May, she would flip’ was all Peter had to say for Ned to understand. He explained how he would synthesise his webs in Chemistry, showing the other boy the formula he was flabbergasted really. Along with that he showed Ned how the web shooters worked. At least Peter had some of the solvent on him, other wise it might have been a bit more of a disaster. 

At least this way when they’re building Legos they won’t spend forever trying to get certain pieces apart anymore...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise? Just after i said i had a posting schedule for this thing it causes some writers block and I don’t update for a month. Well now I’m back in lockdown I’ve edited this fic completely and have written the next chapter. Well always i would wish a Happy New Year but so far it seems like 2021 is just the extended 2020. 
> 
> Stay safe everyone!


	9. Surprise? Is this worth it?

“Tony, Toooonyyyyy” Peter was just ecstatic when he awoke in his dreams that night, he was almost vibrating with excitement. 

“Jesus kid, i know you don’t drink coffee so what is happening?” 

“Remember yesterday when you told me about the SI field trip?” Peter imitated the older man by waiting to see a nod before continuing, “well... Midtown got the slot!” Peter finished whilst bobbing around the lab that they had created again. He had really forgotten about the whole Ned Spiderman situation. It really hadn’t seemed too influential to him. He was going to tell Ned... eventually it just happened sooner than expected thats all. 

“It doesn’t even surprise me tesoro, you guys have the smartest students, SI are lucky to be hosting you all.” Tony just responded with a soft smile. He didnt want to tell the boy of the news he had received today. Well, not quite received. More very aggressively reminded of by Pepper. He saw Peters face fall for a moment before he caught on. 

“O-oh, you wont be there will you?” Peter looked like someone has squished a cat in-front of him. 

“No, I won’t” he said softly before leading Peter from the desk he claimed his own over to their sofa. “I wont be there, its not our time yet kiddo I’m afraid. I would say ‘blame Pep’ but even if she hadn’t set up the internship interviews something might have gotten in the way.” Tony just watched as his kid leaned into him. He felt Peter nodding his head as a reply, he knew Peter didn't trust his voice right now. The same thing had happened after Ben died. 

The rest of the week went slowly for Peter. Something in his mind had clicked, the extra enthusiasm he had when he first found out about the field trip lost. That little thing in his mind quietened. He wasn't sure why but it was dragging him down. 

“What if we get to meet the Avengers? Or Tony Stark? That would be so cool.” Ned was saying to Peter on the morning of the trip, they were sat together on the bus to the avengers tower. 

“I highly doubt that we’ll see them if they are.” Peter just said matter of factly, not really wanting to be there. This should be exciting him, he’s always dreamed about visiting Stark Industries since they went from weapons to technology. 

“I-is everything okay?” Ned asked. He’s always been attentive, it was a curse and a blessing sometimes. He knew how much Peter had wanted to visit SI, but over the week he’s just slowly seen the enthusiasm leave. He really was starting to worry. 

“I-i really don’t know Ned. I just feel.. off.”

“Is it your spidey tingle?” Ned said in a dramatic whisper, he still looked concerned but also slightly more intrigued. 

“No, something just feels wrong to me. I just feel almost disappointed? I have no idea why though.” Peter just finished with a shrug of his shoulders. He really wasn’t sure why he was feeling like this. He wished it could change. He wanted to just enjoy the trip with his team. 

They spent the rest of the journey to SI in comfortable silence. Peter was aware that MJ was drawing behind them but he didn’t have the energy to check. As they were coming and closer to the tower everyone started to get more excited and got louder and louder, MJ was the one who noticed and passed him a pair of earplugs. Tapping him on the shoulder and shoving a pair into his hands. 

“Keep them in for a while.” She explained before turning back to her notebook.He was surprised that she knew how uncomfortable it made him and that she was carrying a pair too. 

When they arrived everyone scrambled off the bus, making sure not to leave anything there. As soon as they got off they saw the woman who was going to be their tour guide. She was young, mid twenties at most and she was waiting there with a white box. “Hi there midtown! Im your tour guide for today. My name is May.” She introduced her self simply. “I will call out your name then you can come and get your IDs.” She started calling of the names off the ids. Once they had all received their IDs she went over the rules that came with them, “So as you can see, you all plain white badges. They’re given to tour visitors like yourself, and reporters. Meaning they can’t go anywhere without a yellow or higher badge. Your ID is yours to keep so please don’t loose it, you wont be getting another one!” She said like it was her thousandth time saying it. She pulled everyone into the building and started to talk again. 

“Everyone scan their badges” she said before a voice came from one of the speakers after she scanned her own badge, “May Grant. Level three, no threat. Welcome back Miss Grant.” Everyone’s faces lit up, someone asked who that was. 

“That was Friday everyone, she’s Mr Starks AI. She runs the entire building, from the security to the elevator, say hi Friday?”

“Welcome Midtown Science and Technology, please enjoy your tour.” Her soft Irish dialect filtered through the speakers. Everyone was once again in awe, no one had seen anything like it. May was laughing from where she was stood.

“Don’t worry everyone, the excitement wears off eventually.” 

Meanwhile Ned was stood their practically bouncing, he muttered to Peter, “i hardly doubt it”. Before he was next in line to scan his badge, he almost looked like he was going to scream when Fridays voice filtered in. 

“Ned Leeds. Clearance level one, no threat.” Peter followed through soon after with a small smile pulling at his face when his name came through, “Peter Parker. Clearance level one, no threat. Welcome.” 

“That’s so cool...” Ned muttered again, the awe both obvious in his tone and facial expressions. Peter was glad he had kept the earplugs in, the general noise of the lobby would have been unbearable.

“Alright!” Mays voice cut through the general hubbub, “We will start on the general ‘tour floors’, then up to one of the R&D labs for a short demonstration. The to the canteens for lunch, then back to R&D for some more demonstrations and then sometime to have a go yourself. After that a tour of the rest of the floors then back down here by the end of your school day, sound good everyone?” She heard some ‘yeahs’ and saw some nodding so she proceeded the the elevator. 

Walking in she pressed the button for the 7th floor and they started their travel up. It was Flash who asked the next question, “How many different types of badges are there?”. There were little colour indicators next to the buttons on the elevator. 

“See there are six different types of badges. With 7 clearance levels. There are the white ones, that I’ve already explained to you. The there are yellow bands which look similar to yours but have a yellow band at the bottom. They’re for low level interns or maintenance workers.” The elevator arrived on the museum floor and they were all brought out before they continued. Everyone chiming in a small ‘thank you Friday’ before continuing. “Then you have the purple bands, like mine, which are for higher level interns and tour staff. Then green, which is for lab assistants and low level scientists. Then red, for high level scientists and those who work closer to the Avengers. Then at last you have the red/gold bands, there are only 3 of those. One for Happy Hogan, head of security and close friend to the Starks, those two have the last IDs. They have the highest clearance level. Then the avengers have no badges but are a level six, it means they can’t get into the Starks penthouse without one of them present. That was a lot but here we are. The museum. Now go! Explore! I’ll be around if you have anymore questions.” 

Everyone quickly dispersed into little groups to explore the floor. Peter, Ned and MJ all ended to together looking around together. MJ gently nudged him and pointed to her ears. Peter gently removed them and put them in his pocket, saying a quick thank you to MJ they all carried on. 

They ended up at the Avengers display, reading little notes about all of the Avengers and how they helped the team in their own way. Black Widow was an ex-spy just like Hawkeye and they were best friends. Captain America was an avid artist and would often display his paintings across their common floor. Bruce Banner and Tony Stark were best friends, they had known each other for years. Ironmans favourite band was AC/DC. That caused Ned to laugh. 

“I wonder who Ironman really is? With the media coverage around the building and that man I’m sure his identity would have been discovered.” Ned started and both Peter and MJ were both thinking about out. Then Peter chimed in.

“I agree, i heard he almost died in the battle of New York. I really would have thought that someone would have caught his face when his mask came off.”

“That’s true, but remember who they’re involved with. Tony Stark, the amount of money that man has, he could probably pay any one off. It would make sense if he was Ironman.” MJ finished nonchalantly, before walking away towards another part of the exhibit. Leaving the two boys in a mix of confusion and enlightenment. It really would make sense that Tony Stark would be Ironman. 

They spent the rest of their time roaming the floor, once they caught up to MJ in another part of the exhibit. When ever they would stop MJ would start to sketch either one of the boys as she put it ‘nerding out’, a small smile forming on her face if she was ever caught.

“Look at this place.” Ned said whilst waving his hand at the whole room. “It’s insane, the amount of history with this company and the Avengers is utterly insane.”   
“I know, imagine leaving this as your legacy. They’ve really changed the game with technology. The Avengers too, they’ve saved the world so many times it’s unbelievable.” Peter said in awe too, his mood was slightly improving. 

“Imagine if one day you became an Avenger...” Ned muttered to him as they were all being ushered to the elevator by May and Mr Harrington. 

Peter just gently nudged Neds arm and replied with a small, “as if.” 

“But MJ... you would be ‘nerding out’ if you ever met Mrs Stark or Black widow?” Ned said slowly, trying to divert the conversation away. 

“That’s because they are leading strong women in a male dominated world. Pepper Stark has taken this company and brought it into the multi billion dollar level, the leading company in most sectors and is a woman at the top of her game. The Black Widow is a woman in a team dominated by men, before that she worked in a field, again, dominated by men. She could snap my neck in a moment. Of course i would have a nerd moment if i met either of them.” She finished. 

No one had noticed the rest of their conversation in the elevator apart from flash again who the called out really loudly. “Wait, are the Avengers here?” To which May lightly laughed while rolling her eyes. 

“They’re pretty much always here unless they have a mission or have some sort of training exercise somewhere. They tend to keep to themselves but sometimes like to cause havoc. I head that Mrs Stark gave them warnings to stay out of the way today.” Everyone expressed their disappointment at the news. 

When they left the elevator they were greeted by a small group of interns, they all looked collage levelled, and their head scientist, who would be leading the demonstration and belong with the practical after lunch. They ended up in a lab where they were looking at the use of robots and how they and technology could be used to further the agricultural yield in third world countries. It was a really interesting demonstration to watch, with different sized robots roaming around the room it definitely caught their attention and kept it. At the end they had the little lecture on what this was all important for the agricultural world and the impact it could have on third world countrires. Peter noticed MJ paying more attention when they started talking about the political affects. Peter was thinking that Mr Harrington should be taking some notes on how to keep his students engaged, he might be able to keep his science lessons from dragging on...

They all went back down to one of the canteens in the buildings where everyone spread our again and were just talking about the day so far. Everything was so new for them, it was opening peoples eyes more then some would like to admit. Peter was feeling mildly better, there was something about the day that was starting to look up. He really wasn't sure what it was, but it was something. Peter noticed that MJ was almost watching him more after the thing with the earplugs., he knew how observant she was and that scared him. He really want sure how to think of it. Would she find out about his powers? 

Quickly shoving those thoughts aside he had a moment to think back at the day so far whilst Ned and MJ were talking about something. The whole building it’s self from the outside was a complete eye saw, MJ had said something about it being a manifestation of Mr Starks ego, but deep down he knew that wasn't true. On the other side, the rest of the building was simplistic, sleek. Almost as a nod to the future. Greys and whites were on most walls. The the labs that had been seen so far were like someone threw up confetti all over the place, they looked like people were there often and like they had a purpose there. Maybe that was the purpose of a company like SI? To take people into the future with a purpose. 

After lunch they had their time with the practical. Their job was to, using a small box of material. create something small that could do something. They had all the wiring and each group had a laptop for coding. In small groups of 3 they had roughly 2 hours to attempt the challenge. As usual, Peter, Ned and MJ all gravitated together. They spent the first little amount of time planning and figuring out how they were going to do it and they set to work. Ned was the one on coding, he started to build a generic code that could be adapted to their needs. Peter and MJ were working on the small device. 

They had decided on something that could light up if a certain task had been completed. It was simplistic enough to work in the time frame and they had everything they needed. In the end it worked well for the three of them. They had created something that they could be proud of. When the interns came around to see what they were all doing they were rather impressed with the idea that they had created and the way that they would be creating it. At the end of the practical session they went over internship applications for the class, although they couldn’t really apply till they were 18 it was always an option. Sometimes people got scouted out at a younger age but it didnt happen often. 

“You have extremely talented students here Mr Harrington, any one of them could easily get a place here.” Peter had heard the head scientist tell Mr Harrington. 

“Don’t i know it.” The man responded fondly as he left the room. That brought a smile to Peters face. 

May was there to greet them by the elevator to take them on the rest of the tour. The only things that were left were the offices and meeting rooms. They had started with the offices and made their way up. Someone asked how many floors there were in the tower, May was happy to answer. 

“There are 108 floors here. Floors between 0-6 are for reporters and publicity events. 7-16 are for tours and they hold the museum. Then floors 17-40 are the labs, both R&D and intern. 41-80 are offices and canteens, 80-100 are conference rooms and a few of the larger meeting rooms. Then floors 101-105 are the Avengers personal floors which hold their medbay, gym and Dr Banners lab, along with their quarters and common room. Then then last 3 floors hold the Starks private floors. That holds their penthouse and Mr Starks private workshop.”

They were now leaving the elevator as May started explaining the office level they were on. 

“There isn’t really much to see across the offices, it’s where PR and HR are mainly based also here Mr and Mrs Starks offices are. HR and PR are both an incredibly important part of the company. The Starks both care and understand the importance of a happy and healthy company. We have a strict anti-bullying code here, it’s heavily policed too. Especially with Friday being the eyes and ears.” They walked out onto the office floors and there was the Mrs Pepper Potts-Stark. She was making her rounds on the floor when she noticed the group.

“Hi, you guys are Midtown aren’t you?” She asked simply. A few people nodded still in shock, she was scanning the class till she saw Peter. “I was just around popping in to see how you’re all enjoying your tour?” 

“It’s been a really nice day, thank you Mrs Stark.” May responded calmly, she had clearly spoken to the CEO before. 

“I’m glad it has been,” she responded in a very calm manner. “I just need to borrow one of your students for a while. Peter Parker is here correct?” As she said the last part the whole tour group had silenced whilst Peter slowly stood forward. 

“Y-yes, I’m here ma’am..” Peter responded slowly, he wanted the ground to swallow him up whole. He heard flash muttering something in disbelief, Ned was trying to ask him what it was about. He didn't know but he was feeling strangely optimistic?

“Ah perfect, you don’t mind if i borrow him do you?” She asked Mr Harrington, the man was stood in disbelief really. He just nodded and Pepper gestured for Peter to follow her back towards the elevator. He followed her in shock still. He heard the murmuring of the group behind them and May trying to get them to calm down. The only voices he could hear clearly were Ned and MJs. 

“Wow, you really are having a nerd moment aren’t you?”  
“Ned. Drop it. Seriously.”

They walked into the elevator together “Fri you know where we’re going.” Peter was mildly confused, he really didnt know where he was going, his spidey sense wasnt going off but there was something in him that left like.... mild optimism?

“So, this is definitely not how you thought your field trip would be going I’m guessing?” She asked with a small laugh, as she quickly typed something into the tablet she was carrying. Before looking at the boy again. She sounded nervous? 

Peter responded with a small laugh, “I-i really didnt think so ma’am...’ he waited a beat before asking quietly, “ Mrs Stark? Where are we going?” 

“That’s a very wise question young man, see we’ve been looking for you for a while.” She finished with a smile and Peters heart dropped. What did that mean? Did she mean for his powers? What did sh- “Well by we I really mean me but carrying on. I’ve seen your school records, minus the last month which have been taken of for personal reasons, you are at the top of your grade and clearly are smart enough to be in collage.” She said with a hint of nervousness but Peter didn’t really pick up on it, he was just relieved she didn’t know about his powers. 

They both exited the elevator and crossed a hall, and the entered another elevator. They had moved away from the topic of his education for now, he could tell it wasn't over though. She scanned her badge. “Welcome home Mrs Stark, Mr Parker, welcome.” Friday stated as her voice came through the speakers. Home?

“You’ve met Friday I’m guessing?” Mrs Stark asked, she wasn't really masking the nerves in her voice anymore.“Fri, engage the ‘dream’ protocol please.” Peter was just baffled at this rate, why is he going to the Starks home? What is the dream protocol?

“The dream protocol has been engaged, would you like me to alert boss?” 

“N-no, wait till were settled please.” And with that the elevator doors open and they both walk into the Starks home? Peter was doing his best to keep everything together, he really had no idea what was happening but he could hear rock music? Faintly playing on the floor below him. Peter was much more hesitant to walk in than she was. 

Directly across the room were large floor to ceiling windows that gave a stunning view of the whole of New York. He heard Mrs Stark mumble something like ‘only Tony could leave the milk out’ which made him giggle a little. The penthouse looked very homely with both modern touches and hand me downs. Their couch was covered in throws and blankets and the coffee table had papers strewn across, it all looked. Familiar? 

“Peter? feel free to sit on the couch there. Would you like anything to drink?” She called from the kitchen. 

“U-umm no thank you Mrs Stark.” He responded hesitantly. He did follow her voice into the apartment more and did sit down on the sofa. Albeit very gingerly. A few moments later he heard and smelled coffee being brewed and the the soft click of Mrs Starks heels as she came over to join him on the sofa, she also had She looked as nervous as Peter felt. 

“Okay, Fri will you please tell him to get his butt up here?” She asked while pulling a small folder from the pile on the coffee table. 

They both sat there on comfortable silence until Peter heard the gentle whir of the elevator and a voice came filtering into the room. “Ahh Pep, i have been summoned? Considering you were the one to both plan and cancel my mentioned today- Who’s this?” The Tony Stark came into the room. In his workshop clothes, holding a cup of coffee. Peter and Mrs Stark both turned to look at the man who had just entered. 

Peter and Tony both made eye contact. And everything slowly just clicked...

“Pete?”

“Tony?” 

A smile broke loose on Mrs Starks face before rose, leaving the freshly brewed coffee on the table. “I’ll let you two catch up.” Resting a hand on both Peters and Tonys shoulders before leaving with the cup that Tony was about to drop and the passing note of. “Ill be on the common floor if you need me..”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh here’s the big one, i hope you enjoyed it! There will be two more chapters. Eek this is a tad scary but here goes nothing!


	10. You sleep talk. The universe isn’t actually infallible

As soon as the elevator doors closed with Pepper outs of reach Peter practically exploded, “Oh my god, Tony Stark is my soulmate. Tony Stark, the Tony Stark, the man I’ve idolised my whole life is my soulmate. This is insane...” 

Tony wasn't fairing much better either, “My soulmate is Spider-Man? Shit you need an actual suit.. why didn’t you tell me?” They were both talking over each other, neither really taking in what was happening. 

Peters head snapped up. He knew Peter was Spider-Man?

“Umm, surprise?” Peter said with a bashful smile. Tony was just stood there staring at the boy. After a long minute Peter started to get worried, ‘what’s going to happen? Why didnt he say anything before about it? God i hope he’s not mad.’ 

Peter was drawn out of his twisting mind by the grin that was forming across his face. He threw his arms around the boy in a bone crushing hug.

“Holy shit kiddo..” Leaning down to kiss the crown of his head. He heard Peter giggle like he used to when he was younger. 

Their memories came crashing down onto them, every night they had spent together. All the time they had spent together over the years. All the times they had spent doubled over in laughter at the stupid things they had both done. All the times that they had spent comforting each other after a rough day. The times they fell asleep in each others hold. Warmth spread through both boys, it was like their souls were bonding together again. They were two half’s of a whole finally reunited.  
They stayed like that for a short while, just taking in everything. They had both wished to meet each other so many times over the years it was almost dream like that it was happening. 

“Please tell me I’m not dreaming.” He heard Peter whisper against his chest. “Please” 

“This is all real bambino, i promise,” the older nickname slipped out, with the events of the day finally sinking into place for Peter he started to cry into Tony’s chest. The man pulled them both over to the couch and pulled him against his chest. It was exactly like what they did last night, it was as familiar has breathing. “It’s all real, I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere anymore, no matter what... hey you remember what I said last night?” He felt Peter nod his head against his chest. “It’s our time kid.” He said as his voice broke at the end. 

They stayed like that for a while, wrapped in each other’s embrace. It was grounding for them both. Peter could hear the irregular beating of the older mans heart and felt at home immediately. Tony could smell the apple shampoo on Peters hair and felt whole. Tony felt Peter stiffen. He was about to ask what was wrong when Peter muttered,

“Shit. My class, the tour. Tony I’m supposed to be on a tour right now!” 

“Hey, kid its okay. Calm down will ya.” He said calmly whilst running his fingers through the boys hair. It stilled the boy for a moment. He had guessed that Pepper was the one to bring them together. “Pete can you pass me one of the pens on the table?” 

Peter looked utterly baffled but complied. He watched as Tony was scribbling something down onto his left hand, they didn’t often talk about their romantic soulmates but he knew Pepper was Tonys. 

Using the pen Peter gave him he quickly wrote on his hand, ‘Pepper. Pepper. Pepper’ it was hardly legible with how much Tonys hands were shaking. 

‘Aren’t you supposed to be bonding right now?’ He read with a small smile. 

‘We were till the kid remembered he was supposed to be on a tour with his class. Which he is?’

‘I’ve cleared it with them, he can stay here for a while.’ 

‘What about his aunt?’ Tony was relieved but also concerned. If May wasnt involved in this... he was brought out of his thoughts by more writing appearing. 

‘She was already aware of what was going to happen...’ Tony could see the smirk on Peppers face. 

‘She was what?’

‘I’ll explain later! Spend some time with your kid, I’ll come back up soon.” 

Tony knew there was no point trying to get more information out of Pep, she was headstrong. 

“There is good news and also some confusing news. Which would you rather hear first?” Tony asked whilst trying to rub away his and Peppers conversation from his hand. He watched as Peters face went from anxious to confused in a split second. 

“The good news?” 

“Smart choice kiddie,” he started with a chuckle, “The good news is that you can stay here, its all been cleared with the school. The confusing news is that i think both Pepper and May were in on this..” he said with confusion lacing his own voice. 

“They were what?” 

“I don’t even know kid... Pep said she’d be up in a while to explain, or at least i hope she does?”|

They were both sat just staring at each other. Neither could believe it. How come both Pepper and May were involved with them meeting? There was a pause, then they both started to laugh at the situation. Neither of them heard the whir of the elevator doors till it was too late. 

————  
Happy was told by Pepper that Tony needed a new badge, that his caught on fire in the lab. He had reluctantly printed another one off and was prepared to chastise the man for it. When he exited the elevator he could just hear laughter coming from the couch.

“Who is this?”

Both heads snapped up towards the doors. Where Happy was standing looking utterly baffled at the scene in-front of him. Tony and Peter managed to catch their breaths before Tony stood up and gestured for Peter to as well. Walking over to Happy by the door, Tony had a gentle hand on Peter shoulder and was smiling wider than Happy had ever seen.

He watched as they both walked over. Still utterly confused by the situation before him. Neither of them could stop smiling as they walked over. 

“Happy, meet Peter.” He gestured to the boy with the softest tone. 

“Peter, meet Happy.” Then a bit quieter he added , “don’t let his gruffness fool you, he’s a massive softie..” it caused the boy, Peter, to giggle. 

He looked at them with a small smile on his face. “It’s nice to meet you kid.” He said whilst offering his hand. He still didn’t know what the connection was between the two, but it almost looked. Fatherly?

Peter shook his hand, “nice to meet you too..” he said before ducking his head with a small half smile. 

“That’s one hellva grip you’ve got.” Happy said with a small chuckle before looking back at Tony, “Pep sent me up here with another ID for you. She said yours caught on fire in the workshop? Seriously Tony, another one?” 

He watched as Tonys face went from confusion to amusement. “Oh did she now? Well then, thank you for the new badge Hap.” He said while trying to cover his smile. 

Peter was looking just as confused as Happy was. 

“Alright then boss..” he said before turning back around and went back into the elevator. After the doors closed he asked Friday the question that had been bubbling inside of him. 

“Fri? Who is that kid?”

“That information is classified I’m afraid Mr Hogan. What I can tell you is that his names Peter.” There was a slight hint of humour in the AIs tone. 

“Alright, thanks Fri.” He sighed before leaving the elevator and getting back and masking sure that the school tour left the building without leaving a mess.  
————

Meanwhile back upstairs in the penthouse Tony was laughing again while Peter looked at him in disbelief. He had no idea what was happening. 

“J-jeez sorry kid. That was just priceless, Pep really does have a plan doesn’t she.” He turned and looked at Peter, “See, i still have my badge. I think its under a pile of paper on the desk. If I’m right, which you know I normally am... Fri, who’s name is connected to this badge?” He asked the AI 

“Peter Parker. Clearance level seven. No threat.” Friday said with a hint of humour in her tone. Peter looked so surprised at what the AI had said he was speechless. Peters mind started to spin in circles ‘ why does he have a highest clearance badge?’ 

“Peter? Peeeter Parker? ...candy pants?” That caught Peters attention, he turned to look at him before laughing. 

“What is it with that name? He asked in between laughs. 

“It’s the only way to get your attention kid! You went all silent. You’re always talking, it was mildly concerning.” What Tony said was true. The only times Peter wouldn’t talk as much was when he was lost in his brain or was focused on something. 

“I thought you would have appreciated the silence” he said with a teasing tone. 

“Nope. Never, silence is boring.” Tony said with certainty. 

“You’ve heard my voice for the past like 12 years? It’s nothing special.” Peter said while leaning into the mans chest. Tony hugged the boy while leaving a kiss on his forehead. 

“To me it is.” He said simply. “Hey Fri? Can you ask Pep to come up here?” He said softer, he thought it was time that they got some answers. So he lead Peter to the couch and there they sat. Waiting for Pepper to come and explain everything. 

————

Pepper got the message from Fri as she and Nat were catching up over what had happened over the past few days. Pepper had told Nat about the whole plan pretty early on, she needed someone to help her plan it. Not one was better than the ex spy and shield agent. 

“Mrs Stark, Boss is requesting your presence.”

“Here goes nothing” she heard Nats laugh and a good luck being said from behind her. 

By the time she reached the living room she saw Peter and Tony sat on the couch together. Peter was leaning against Tonys chest. They looked so similar it was like Peter was Tonys son, they both heard her enter and they separated but Tony grabbed Peters hand. He didn’t want to let go. It made Pepper smile some more. 

“Peter, its nice to see you again” she said as she came to sit down. It caused Peter to blush and look down as he replied. 

“It’s nice to see you again, Mrs Stark.”

Tony snorted from beside Peter. “Mrs Stark?” Peter glared at him 

“Yeah, its called being polite? You ever heard of it?” Peter said in a teasing tone as he used his free hand to prod Tonys side.  
“Oh really candy pants? You’re going to go there?” Tony replied with a playfulness in his voice. He knew how much that nickname annoyed him. 

“Tonyyyyyyyyyyyyyy”

“Peteerrrrrrrrrrrrr” 

“Boys?” Pepper asked, she was hardly keeping in the laugher. She watched as their heads snapped back towards them, Peters face turned red and Tony just started to laugh. 

“It’s alright Peter, you can call me Pepper, everyone else around here does.” She watched Peter nod and lean into Tony’s side.

“So, I’m guessing I should start from the beginning?” She said and the two of them nodded while waiting. She took a deep breath then started. 

“It all started around the time Peter was born.” She started looking between the two boys “It was i think three days after you were born, and i had woken up before Tony. It wasn’t an unusual thing. I heard him murmuring something along the lines of ‘soulmate’. I felt over the moon. You’d need waiting so long to find your platonic soulmate. Neither me or James had given up on you.” She was gently shaking her head. 

“You had been waking up with tears down your face for a couple of days and i saw how it was breaking you not knowing what was happening. It wasn’t nice to see. You’re such a hard head, you hardly ever cry. So I figured you had found your soulmate...”She looked up at them again, making sure they were still following as she continued. 

“Over the years you said more and more and i slowly started to put pieces together.” She looked over at the two boys who were in shock. But she still continued. 

“After Jarvis went down and you created Friday. I set up the ‘Dream protocol’. It would keep track of anything you said in your sleep. Over the years i ended up knowing Peters full name, but i never looked into you. I promise you that. It was a surprise to me when Midtown applied for the tour, so i looked through the files and there you were. I set everything into motion after that. I called your school and told them you had an internship interview. I also called your aunt and told her everything, she said she wasn't surprised. She said something about the time when Tony was in Afghanistan and that you changed during those months. She’d assumed it had something to do with soulmates.” Pepper finished with a heavy exhale. She elected to leave out the fact that May wanted a copy of their meeting. 

The three people were just looking back and fourth in each other in bewilderment. The silence in the room was heavy. 

Peter and Tony both started to talk at the same time. 

“You called aunt May?” 

“You’ve known about Peter for 14 years?”

Pepper looked between them. They really were similar. Down to the facial expressions, it was concerning to see. “Yes i did call her. You couldn’t stay here after school without her knowing and i wanted to see if anything similar had happened to you too.” And yes i did. You and me both know I couldn’t have told you, trust me i wanted to Tony. Things had to come together on their own.” 

Peter shifted uncomfortably where he was sat. He knew that what Pepper was true and the two of them had some talking to do. Very quietly he said, “umm i think i should get going.” And the two adults in the room looked at him with almost shock on their faces. 

“You sure bambino?” Tony asked, it was almost a small plea from the man. 

“Y-yeah i should probably get back to May. Neds probably wanting an update on everything too.”he finished with a sheepish smile. Ned was going to explode when he told him. 

“Yeah-okay. Umm, ill walk you down to the lobby.” Tony replied. He didn't want to say goodbye yet. 

Peter picked up his backpack from where he had left it and he and Tony both walked to the elevators. He called a goodbye and a thank you to Pepper. She sent a soft smile back at him. Before they reached the elevator. Tony had an arm around his boy. Neither could tell what he was shielding Peter from, but they were both grateful for the support that they were giving to each other. 

It took a moment before Tony spoke again,“Kid?” He started softly “You have your phone on you?”

“Yeah..”

“Can i have it for a moment?”

“Mm?” Peter dug his phone out of his bag and passed it to Tony. He watched as Tony added his number to Peters phone and sent a message to his number so he would have Peters too. 

“Message me when you get home safe okay?” He told the boy whilst hugging him. 

“Thank you Tony, for everything you’ve done for me over the years. It means a lot to me knowing that I’ve always had someone there for me even if I didn’t know it. You’ve been like a father to me all these years. Just... thank you.” He looked up at the older man and hugged him again before running out of the elevator and out of the building. 

“I love you Pete” he said after but he’d already left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the penultimate chapter everyone, a special thanks to my friend for helping me get the first scene together. I ended up re-writing it so many times before i got it down. One more to go people!!


	11. All civilised over a caprisun.

Peter

u could’ve added your self as anything, n u chose tony :(

Tony

I thought I’d leave the honours to you kid 

Im assuming you got home safe?

Peter 

u assume correctly my lord *bows*

u don’t care what i set ur contact name too either??

Tony

No... i feel like I should be worried though

Peter

wise decision.... 

mkay, its done >:D

Tony Stank

Do i get to know what it is at all?

Peter

if i told you then id have to kill you... *gets knife at the ready*

Tony Stank

*gets the armour ready and a frying pan* They're the best weapon you see

Peter 

u’ve just outed yourself as a tangled fan...

i can support this, pls may we watch it together at somepoint *lowers knife*

Tony Stank

*lowers frying pan* Something brought you here, Peter Parker. Fate, destiny 

Peter 

... a horse 

Tony Stank 

Were watching it together kid. It’s final 

Peter

*happy possum noises* 

Tony Stank 

I think I’m going to regret this but...

Why a possum?

Peter 

w-why a possum? this is why..

*possum meme*

just look at it! ned told me that they’re my spirit animal >:DD

oh crap, ill be right back

Tony Stank

Kid...

Everything okay?

————

Peter had gotten side tracked. When he left the SI he slowed down so he could look at the onslaught of messages left by Ned. It was pretty much a play by play of how the rest of the afternoon went, he quickly scrolled through them reaching the last one. 

‘CALL ME AND EXPLAIN PLS’ 

Thank god he had aeroplane mode on, that would have ruined the moment. But after he finished reading the messages he pocketed his phone, deciding it would probably be better to wait till he got home to call Ned. He didn't really want to talk about it in public. So he wad going to call when he got home but as soon as he opened the door May was there to as questions and wanted to know everything. 

He explained everything from them actual tour to meeting his soulmate. It was a bit surreal to think about. He’d idolised Tony all of his life and he was his soulmate. It was crazy. May was over the moon for the boy, when she lost Ben it was the greatest pain she had ever felt but she was lucky too. She still had her best friend and Peter to keep her afloat. Now, there would always be someone to look out for Peter when she couldn’t. 

Then after that Peter and Tony started to talk. It was slightly strange to be able to talk and text but they both appreciated it. Peter felt whole, for the first time in a long time. He felt like he was fully complete, everything felt like it would be okay. He wasn’t sure if he had met his romantic soulmate yet, and thats okay. He knew it would be okay. After his conversation with Tony he remembered he had meant to call Ned. He pulled up the other boys number and dialled. He picked up on the second ring. 

“Peter, what the hell was that?” Ned said, almost shouting down the phone. 

Peter just look in a deep breath and explained everything that happened after he left with Pepper. Trying to commit it all to memory, he didn't want to forget a moment of it. Surprisingly Ned just sat there and took it all in. He only interrupted a few times. 

“W-wait a moment, your soulmate is Tony Stark?” 

“Yes he is Ned. Yes he is...”

“Your life is utterly wack, like seriously. First the spider thing, now this?” 

“Don’t i know it, honestly it hardly makes sense to me.” He said with a sigh before continuing. 

By the time he had finished Ned was pretty much vibrating at the other end of the phone. 

“So your platonic soulmate is THE Tony Stark... you could see him in your dreams and talk to him that way but you couldn’t remember each other when you wake up... you now have the highest ranking security badge along with Mr Stark and Mrs Stark... Mrs stark pulled you from the tour to meet your soulmate... she had known about you from early early on and she told May all of it?” Ned had to summarise at the end to just make sure he remembered everything. 

“Also.. i now have a fake but also kinda real internship with him?” It had slipped his mind because May had told him when he came in. 

“What the fuck.” Ned just muttered down the phone. 

“Don’t I know it Ned. Don’t i know it.” 

They sat in a comfortable silence before Peter asked what had happened on the rest of the tour. Ned complied happily. 

They stayed on the phone another twenty minutes before Mrs Leeds came and told Ned it was time for bed, he called a good night to Neds mum before saying a quick goodbye to his best friend. Making sure to promise that he wouldn’t tell anyone who his soulmate was before hanging up. 

Peter led on his bed and just let the days events fully sink in. He started the day wanting too avoid SI almost as if it were a plague, and it ended with him meeting Tony Stark and Pepper Potts and finding out that he’s Tony Starks platonic soulmate. Ned was right. His life is wack. 

Speaking of, Peters phone buzzed again. He checked it and it was Tony, he’d completely left the man with a half goodbye before leaving. 

Tony Stank

Kid?

I’m getting worried here?

You okay?

Peter

hiiiiii sorry pls don’t worry i just needed to call ned 

i promised id call him earlier but i forgot >:(

pls don’t be worried i didnt mean to worry u 

Tony Stank

Kid hey, its okay. I’m just glad you’re okay 

Also, me and Pep talked.... 

Peter

And....

Tony Stank

Everything is fine. We both promise you that

We talked, like *adults* and resolved any issues 

Peter

awe yay my parents aren’t fighting anymore ^.^

WAIT I DIDNT SAY THAT 

shoot shoot shoot

you saw nothing *backs into the corner and hides*

Tony Stank

I didnt see what kid? ;)

Now sleep, its late. I know your exhausted 

Peter

im not sleepy D: ur just assuuuuuming 

n mAybe ur assumption has a little gravitas to it 

BUt 

will we still see each other in our dreams? 

Tony Stank

Kid.. i don’t know if we will. I wish i did 

I know you’re tired, sleep. You know I’m always here

This way we can figure out if we can still see each other. 

Peter

ur too logical 

mmmmmfineeeeee ill sleeeepppp 

gn Tony! 

maybe ill see u later :D

-a month later-

Over the past month the two had grown even closer together. They figured out that now that had met they would only sometimes dream together. It wasn’t too bad. Sometimes Peter would wake up in a panic and need help. He knew he could always rely on Tony. Other times, Tony would wake up with a heavy heart because even though he knew his soulmate he no longer spent every night with him. They spent every other day together for the ‘internship’. To Peters surprise, that lie stuck, and it was also easy to spread because the school was aware that he held a Stark internship under the Tony Stark. And that’s as a sure fire way for news to get around fast. 

Peter was having a relatively good day, he had aced a quiz in history. It took Tony to remind him he had one but he still aced it. They had served his favourite in the canteen that day and he and Ned were paired together for a project in science. Above all else it was Friday, of the days he got to see Tony and May was working nights all weekend so he was staying at the tower. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket, checking it he saw it was a message from Happy telling him he was outside. 

Taking the rest of the books he needed, Peter closed his locker and turned to leave the school before turning to leave. 

“Hey Penis!” 

Peter knew better, so he ignored the boy and carried on walking. He could sense something was going to happen but he ignored it. He just wanted to leave. By the time he reached the top of the stairs Peter was ready to jog to Happys car, but Flash had other ideas. 

Peter felt his sixth sense spike before he was pushed down the stairs again. 

“I was talking to you Penis.” Flash all but snarled at him. 

“And i was walking away from you.” Peter wasn't hurt too bad, he could feel that his arm would bruise hurt that should disappear by the morning. 

“I heard you got a Stark internship” Of course it was about the internship. 

“Yeah Flash, I did. What about it?” Peter said as he started to stand up, he could hear a car door slam from somewhere around him. 

“You’re faking it, no one would want a loser like you working under them. Especially Tony Stark.” He said before punching Peter. 

He knew it was coming but he couldn’t dodge it. So he just took the punch, that was when he heard a voice. 

“Hey kid!” Happy was walking towards the two boys looking fuming. “What the hell do you think your doing?” 

“Nothing sir. Me and Penis here were just talking.” Flash said with the most sincerity in his voice. 

“Oh are you sure about that? What about that punch i just saw Peter take here?” Happy had his ‘media nobody fucks with me’ face on. He watched as Flashes face faltered. 

“I-ugh didnt do anything, why would you assume that?” Flash was faltering. 

Happy was done with his crap. He took a step closer to Flash. “Listen to me kid. You don’t want to be playing this game. I know Peter and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt a fly so i don’t know why you decided to pick on him to beat up but i dont imagine you will be doing it again will you?” He watched as Flash just nodded before turning and quickly walking away. 

Happy turned to look at Peter, he saw everything that had happened. It looked like Peter was just going to let it continue. 

“Hey kid? Are you okay?” 

“Hm? Oh y-yeah I’m fine.” Peter just said with a small smile before getting into the backseat. 

“If you’re sure...” he knew better than to push the boy, but he did send a warning to Tony to let him know what had happened. Tony was not impressed. 

By the time they had gotten to the tower Peter had already pulled his badge out and was ready to leave the car. It was unusual, in all the times Happy had dropped him at the tower Peter was always talking his ear off and never ready to actually leave the car till Happy prompted him. He wasnt used to seeing it. The car partition was his best friend some days, 

“Thanks Happy!”

“Make sure you have all your bags!” He called before Peter scampered off. 

Peter appreciated Happy, he really did. He felt bad for the man having to drive him too and from school but Tony said that it would be mysterious if Spider-Man was suddenly around Stark Tower a lot, plus ‘driving you around is some of the easiest money he makes’. It didnt help to ease the boys mind at all. Over the past few weeks he'd been staying at the tower a lot more so he didn’t have to carry an extra bag around, it never stopped happy reminding him though. 

By now Friday recognised him so he didn't really have to wear his badge anymore, but there was an incident with a new security guard last week and he didn’t want to risk it again. Keeping his head down he scanned his badge and got the obligatory ‘welcome’ from Friday, and the obligatory stares from people who didn’t know why he had the highest clearance. Over the month he’d grown accustomed to it. That’s something he'd never thought would happen, he was used to people staring at him. 

“Hey Fri? Where’s dad?” He mumbled out once he reached the elevator. Wait did he just call Tony ‘dad’ out loud? Shit. 

“He’s on the common floor Peter, would you like me to take you there and announce your arrival?”Friday sounded... happy? Can an AI sound happy?

“Yes please.... can you not tell him about me calling him dad?” He said with some hope in his voice. He didn't want to ruin anything. 

“Of course Peter.”

“Thanks Fri” he said with a sigh.

He exited the elevator with a small smile on his face. Maybe his day would be looking up, he was staying at the tower all weekend and Friday said she wouldn’t tell Tony about his slip up. 

He walked into the common floor and it was empty? Normally it had the avengers sprawled all around, or at least in the few times he’d seen them. Steve was normally sat in the corner sketching, Bucky and Sam were normally on one of the couches laughing at something stupid. Bruce wasnt around anyways he was in his lab most of the time. Nat was normally reading on one of the other couches, Wanda and Vision normally spent tome alone. Thor was ‘off world’ and Clint was with his family. But no one was there, he heard the elevator whir again. 

“Pete? That you?” Tony called out 

“Y-yeah its me, Fri said you were down here.” Peter was nervous to see him, what if Happy told him about Flash. Crap. 

“Everyone else is on a mission so i came down here for a change.” he said whilst leading the boy to the elevator, “Till Pep said i was needed on a call upstairs so i went up, you also came up. Classic miscommunication on that front. How was school?” He finished as they walked into the penthouse. 

“It was fine, i aced that history test by the way. Thanks for reminding me.” He said before steering off towards his room, yep his room. He had a room in the Starks suite, it was still a little surreal to him, to drop his bag off and grab another hoodie. 

“You’re welcome tesoro.” He watched as the boy walked towards his room, he got Happys message earlier and he wasn't impressed, he knew that Flash sometimes picked on Peter. He was livid at that, but Peter said he had it all handled so he left it alone. But he then get a message from Happy, clearly Peter wasn’t handling it. Friday also told him that Peter called him ‘dad’, it made his heart soar. He started to think of himself as a father to Peter in the past few years and this was it all coming true. 

When Peter came back out he joined Tony on the couch and came and snuggled into the older mans side. 

“You alright bambino?” He murmured into the boys hair. 

“Mmmmhmmm mfine, you okay?” He said into the mans chest. 

“I’m all good kiddie... Happy told me what happened earlier, do you want to talk about it?” 

“It was nothing, just.. just the usual.” 

“So him pushing you down and punching you is normal? Hap didn't hear what he said but you looked shaken when you came in..”

“I-it was just the usual stuff, I’m used to it. If he’s hurting me then he wont hurt anyone else, i have super healing anyway. I’m fine..” he said with a sigh at the end. He knew it was a sore subject with both May and Tony. 

“Kid, you can talk to me about it okay. Ill listen and i can see if i can help okay? I’m always here for you, now that we actually know each other like this i can help you more. Just because you can heal faster doesn’t mean you can take it all, your mental health is priority here. There may not be physical scars anymore but the mental ones take longer to heal and tend to leave more damage.”He murmured it into the boys hair, he knew he could hear him perfectly, just hoping he was taking it all in. 

He felt Peter nod his head against his chest and they stayed like that for a while. Just taking comfort in each other till Pepper walked in and ruffled both boys hair which caused them to giggle. They felt safe together. Pepper was looking at both of them fondly, she’d watch them grow and learn to appreciate each other outside of their dreams. She’d seen as Tony grew without even knowing Peter and she still watches him change with him around. He’s finally accepted to get some proper help to cope with anything. She was just proud of them. 

“How about we have a movie night? We can spend tomorrow in the lab.” He said to Peter the looking at Pepper to see if she wanted to accept the invite. 

“I’d love too but i have that meeting tomorrow, how about next week? I think May said she’s working nights then too.” She said as she was collecting papers from the ever growing mound on the coffee table. Her and May had become closer after Peter and Tony met, they hadn’t officially met but she’d probably invite her next week. 

“Looks like it’s just us then kid”

“That doesn’t sound too bad too me, as long as we get too watch Tangled. We still haven’t watched it yet.” He said whilst smiling

“So Tangled it is. We can re-watch Over The Garden Wall too candy pants.” That caused everyone in the room to start to laugh. It was warm and comforting to them all.

————

After they had watched a couple of films they decided to take a break and walk around the floors. Staying still for that long for either of them was a challenge and they needed to stretch. It was also an excuse to raid the fridges whilst they waited for the pizzas to arrive.   
Tony went to go talk to Pepper about something to do with an SI release date needing to be moved around because of something or another. Peter had zoned out by the time he’d finished explaining. He had his mind set on a Capri sun, he'd been craving one all week and Tony had bought him some for tonight. 

He had looked in the kitchen and he couldn’t find any. He remembered that sometimes the delivery guys got mixed up and went to go look in the common room fridge. So he took the elevator down to the common floor and went to look. They were there in the fridge, so he grabbed the case before turning to leave. Before Fridays voice filtered in. 

“Boss is wondering where you’ve gone Peter.”

“Tell dad ill be up in a sec, just went to grab the caprisuns, couldn’t he have texted me?” He didnt even realise he called Tony dad. 

“I’m afraid he’s holding your phone in his hand and complaining about it now” Friday said with some humour in her tone 

Peter mumbled something under his breath before turning to leave again when he saw the group standing at the door. 

The Avengers were stood staring at him, they all had different looks on their faces. Sam and Bucky were laughing in the back, Steve looked like he was trying to decode an encrypted message, Nat was stood with a small smirk on her face and Wanda and Vision where nowhere to be seen. 

“Umm h-hi there?” Peter said stopping in his tracks. 

“Hey there kid, nice to see you again.” Steve said whilst looking at the box in his hands and smiling. 

“I-its nice to see you too sir. A-um these got sent down here by mistake, sorry I’m just gunna- im going to leave now. Nice to see you all, bye?” Peter finished before he almost ran away. The rets of the group just looked at each other. 

“So...”

“So..”

“You all heard him call Stark dad too right?” Sam piped up. 

“Yep” they all chimed in. 

“Friday?” Nat called out, “is Peter Tonys son?” She asked simply. She felt like she knew the answer anyways. 

“I’m afraid thats classified Ms Romanoff.” Friday replied with humour in her tone. 

“So it’s classified.” They all started to look at each other. 

“Huh, Peters Tonys son.” Steve just said before walking off into the kitchen. 

Everyone else just stared at each other before walking into the common room like nothing had happened. 

Little did they know that upstairs Peter and Tony were having a very heartfelt conversation about their father/son relationship. Over Caprisons, as a family should.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hello there, this is it. Here’s the final chapter done and my first ever multi chapter fic done too!! Thank you to everyone who has read and left comments and kudos, it means the world to me :) i have a few one shots I’m thinking about right now, but for now thats all folks! 
> 
> Also i watched the first two eps of WandaVision and I’m looking forward to the show more than I originally thought :D

**Author's Note:**

> Hehe i really hope yall are gonna stick around for this,, anyways have a wonderful day !!!


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